Monthly Archives: November 2010

Malachy and I had Veteran’s Day off, so Shien said, “Why don’t you guys cook together?” 😉 Shien had evening class, so it was just me and Malachy. We typically order out, but we decided on taking on the adventure.

I had bought this book for Malachy and Shien, and on the first night, he wanted to read it cover to cover for bedtime! A few mornings he would study it, and he would ask if they could make things together. They made a couple of things from it, and now, it was my turn! 😉

So, I decided that we were going to make 3 dishes together: Grover’s Chinese Meatballs with Sesame Rice, Big Bird’s Sesame Green Beans, and Cookie Monster’s “Me-Stuffed” Potatoes. Malachy was really good about going ingredient shopping with me. Shien actually toasted sesame seeds for me the evening before, so I didn’t have to go buy them.

It took us a few stores to find Sesame Oil, but in the end, we got everything. Instead of cooking the bacon from scratch, because I didn’t want to make a big mess, I ordered a side from Cafe Petisco. 😉 Everything else, Malachy and I made together. Of course, it was mostly me trying to cook all three things at once, but in the end, it was quite a success. I went off script a little when baking potatoes. I actually went on to http://howtobakeapotato.com/ and they were perfect! After baking them, I had to cut the top off each one, scrape out the potatoes and restuff them! We even had my brother-in-law and his fiancee come over, and they were impressed. 😉

The other night, I was so inspired, I decided to surprise Shien with another dinner. It feels good to be able to prepare something for her every once in a blue moon, and it really really makes me appreciate all the cooking she has done for me and Malachy. Our tummies are so blessed! 😉

As a kid, who doesn’t LOVE Halloween? As an adult, I started dreading it… until Malachy came along. 😉 This Halloween, I found the perfect costume online… Chinese Take Out! The giant chopsticks weren’t included. 😉 Found them in Chinatown for $1.50! For the past year, whenever Shien has class in the evening, Malachy and I have ordered Ming’s for take out! Malachy and I call it date night. 😉 They are really nice there and the food is pretty good for Chinese food. We usually get some kind of appetizer like dumplings or spring rolls, some Beef Chow Fun, a small soup, and some vegetable dish with rice. Malachy also always asks for a cold beverage, like Lychee or Longan or Chocolate slushies. They add little pieces of gelatin to it too, so it’s quite yummy.

Malachy was SO excited ALL weekend, as Halloween was on a Sunday. For us, it started on Friday. Malachy’s school had a Halloween celebration, and I volunteered to read. I read and sang with EIGHT classes in a row! 😉 I was able to “play guitar” with my Droid X attached to a Mic, and then the class played some Musical Chairs, while I played music from an iPod touch. I think it was the first time for some of the kids. Very cool! Malachy’s Po Po and Gong Gong came to visit just for this occasion. They made New York into a pit stop before traveling overseas. Malachy and I quickly made his Po Po a costume on Friday morning, since she was going to march in the school parade with him. I found some of the recycled brown paper wrapping that comes with deliveries, and we made a big bandage with it! 😉

On Saturday, we got to take a little break, but then on Sunday, all the festivities started up again, as our community has an annual HUGE Halloween blast with lots of activities. The activity that exhausted me was the bouncy inflatable slides that they rented. The problem was that they were SO vertical and Malachy couldn’t climb up to the top by himself. So, I had to get in there and attempt to get him to the top. It was so tall, that I had to climb and push, and he wasn’t helping me one bit. 😉 He kept cracking up, as I tried to hurl him to the top. I slid back down with him a few times (failed attempts), and kept trying to climb and throw him up at the same time. My back was sore for a few days, but it’s all good now. WHEW! 🙂

In terms of the candy, his FAVORITE part, of course. It lasts us for the year and we wind up not even eating it all! 😉 After a week or so, we put it out of sight and revisit it every now and then. This year Malachy dubbed the candy bucket he got from his Po Po, a BOOket, since it looks like a ghost and glows in the dark.